Rashba spin-orbit coupling induced modulation of magnetic anisotropy in canted antiferromagnetic heterostructures

The combined effect of charge transfer, broken symmetries, and spin-orbit coupling (SOC) yields interfacial magnetism and transport in spatially asymmetric quantum oxide heterostructures. The polar nature of such interfaces activates the Rashba effect which provides a platform to modify the electronic band structure, whereas the presence of competing magnetic anisotropies is essential for deriving the topologically nontrivial spin textures. Entanglement of these two effects wherein the Rashba physics can be utilized to manipulate magnetic anisotropy (MA) is contemplated as a pathway to alternative electronic states. Here, using the CaMnO3/CaIrO3 heterostructure as a template, we demonstrate that Rashba SOC modulates the MA and controls the sign and magnitude of anomalous Hall conductivity consequent to the modification in the electronic band structure via the reconstruction of Berry curvature. This approach to tune and control the multipronged magnetotransport phenomena via Rashba SOC (without external bias voltage) is potentially relevant for spin-orbitronics function-alities.